While carrying poor Basil away, Kevin, Hercules, Jennifer and their friends are attacked by Ares’ soldiers. Durok Malloy and his animal army help in the battle – which includes five cavalrymen in the second wave of attack.

Hercules explains that Ares has the power to restore life – perhaps there is a way to bring back the beloved Basil

Ares and his army encamp at Stonehenge with his hostages David Rigg and Simon St. Charles. Rigg escapes and finds Hercules and company.

Ares meanwhile confesses why he started World War III – after thirty thousand years he seeks the sweet oblivion of death – something denied to a god. Hercules appears and says he will oblige Ares by helping him fulfill his wish. The battle commences!

In the spectacular fight, Ares admits why he hates Hercules so – daddy issues. “We were both his sons yet, it was you he loved, while I … I was ever despised!”

Showing some of the gorgeous art in this issue!

Ares is eventually worn down and surrenders after the stones of the henge are toppled on him. He capitulates: truces are called and bargains made, including the resurrection of faithful Basil in exchange for his freedom. Ares flees, but both he and Hercules swear that should they ever meet again, one will die!

***

The letter column “Myth Mail” tells us the sales of Hercules Unbound are very good! Odd that there are only two letters published – one of praise and the other echoing the HU/Wonder Woman mash-up. There is a small pin-up of the Man-God. If it is such a success, where are the letters?

The editor mentions that writer Gerry Conway is considering some “century shifting”. Is he already tired of Earth After Disaster?

***

Hercules Unbound ended its first year of publication on a high note. A unique idea with a unique hero. The creative staff was unchanged to date (a good sign) and was top level (Garcia was the only “newbie” in the group and even then was gaining gravitas with his Batman pencils).

It was a very good year!

The issue even got it’s own “article” in DC’s house ads! Another good sign!

The blurb on the last panel promises a new menace and a new direction for the man out of myth.

Uh-oh … that’s never a good sign…

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Andrea, Cindy and Rick drive to the Wolfeboro Summer Resort in New Hampshire. They wish to study an ancient legend concerning Iroquois relics supposedly buried in Lake Winnipesaukee. When they arrive at the lake, a large sea monster reaches out and attacks them with its tentacles. Andrea changes into Isis, but her magic doesn’t seem to affect the creature. Isis retreats from the scene, and the monster sinks back down beneath the water’s surface. Isis changes back into Andrea Thomas and regroups with Rick and Cindy.

Rick begins investigating the case on his own and finds what appears to be the living spirit of an Iroquois warrior named Mocinnivo. The warrior runs into the lake towards the sea monster, whereupon Rick discovers that the monster is just an elaborately disguised undersea vehicle. The monster grabs Rick with its tentacles and begins drowning him.

Isis arrives and fights back against the monster. With the help of Tut, she eventually disables the craft, and pulls Mocinnivo out from the cockpit. Tugging at his face, they discover that Mocinnivo is actually a lodge owner named Mister Marra, who wanted to horde the legendary treasure for himself. The spirit of the real Mocinnivo appears and thanks Isis and the others for helping preserve his people’s heritage.

***

“Avalanche!”

Writer: Steven Skeates, Pencils: Mike Vosburg

Inker: Bob Smith

Editor: Dennis O’Neil; Managing Editor: Joe Orlando

From DC Wikia: Andrea Thomas goes skiing in the mountains of New Hampshire. On one of the lifts, she meets a big game hunter named Big Roy, who boasts about all of the elk he plans on hunting in the surrounding area. Andrea doesn’t care for the man’s demeanor and quickly takes her leave of him.

Some time later, Big Roy tracks down an elk and shoots it with his rifle. The echo of the gunshot prompts an avalanche and tons of snow begins rushing down towards the ski resort. Andrea Thomas transforms into Isis and uses her elemental control over the wind to blow several ski lift carriages to safety. She finds that Big Roy is buried beneath some snow and debris, so she flies down to rescue him.

***

The letter column contained more positive reviews of the debut issue and promised more details as to Andrea’s personal life, a headquarters for our hero and a new direction away from the teenage-lesson-oriented themes of the TV show.

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases!

Written by Samantha Highfill of Entertainment Weekly; thanks so very much for allowing me to share your story on my blog!

***

On screen, Legends of Tomorrow’s Caity Lotz and The Flash’s Candice Patton help save the world on a weekly basis as their characters battle metahumans, aliens, and even the occasional demon. But off screen, the actors are focused on a different battle: combating the notion that women should see one another as competition. “Society has pinned women against each other,” Lotz says. “There’s always this feeling of there’s only one seat at the table and if you want it, you better tear that other girl down. But if we want to reach equality, we have to lift each other up.” In order to do that, Lotz and Patton founded Shethority, a digital space where women can come together and, quite simply, talk.

The idea was solidified during the filming of the 2016 Arrowverse crossover, which brought together characters from four CW superhero shows — Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. While their characters teamed up in front of the camera, the women found themselves talking more and more in-between takes. “It’s usually one or two women on each show and all the sudden there were five or six of us and we started really talking,” Lotz says. What resulted was a conversation so impactful that the actors decided they wanted to involve others, from other actors to fans. So together, they launched social media handles for Shethority in October of 2017. “We want it to be a safe space for female-identifying humans,” Legends of Tomorrow star and Shethority member Maisie Richardson-Sellers says. “People can come here, share their stories and be heard.”

Less than a year later, Shethority has more than 120,000 followers and is feeling timelier than ever. “There’s been this movement of female empowerment and women standing up and asking for what they deserve and demanding respect and equality,” Patton says. “Shethority came around the time of the #MeToo and all of these other movements, and I think it has to do with where we are in our society.” Lotz, Patton, and other women use the Shetority pages to talk about what’s affecting them, and they encourage fans to do the same. So far, members have posted about everything from gun violence to body image. “There is no substitute for the authenticity of actually talking to one another,” Arrow star and Shethority member Emily Bett Rickards says. “Any question you have, most likely someone else is having as well. You’re continually learning about yourself and the people around you.” Patton adds, “We found that the more women speak to each other and speak truthfully, we have way more in common than we have differences.”

That conversation has only just begun. On Monday, Lotz and Patton, along with Shethority COO Lynn Sounakhene, launched the Shethority website, which gives members the ability to talk about their experiences in more detail by writing articles or creating longer videos. Additionally, the website features a tab where people can buy merchandise through Represent. The majority of the proceeds from those purchases will go to an organization that highlights female empowerment, with the chosen organization changing every few months. “We need very little money to keep Shethority afloat, so we thought to use the rest of it and give to causes that speak to us and what we’re trying to do,” Patton says. After already donating money to Girls, Inc. and Girls Not Brides, Shethority is currently looking to help GirlForward, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunities for girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution.

As for what comes next, there are almost too many ideas: Shethority block party! Shethority convention! Shethority book club! There are no limits to the ways in which Shethority aims to bring women together. But regardless of the method, the goal remains the same: Shethority will include as many different voices as possible to show that women are stronger together. “So often we smother our own lights, and we allow society to smother our lights,” Richardson-Sellers says. “Part of Shethority is just giving people permission to shine.”

***

About the blogger: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Doc’s friend Johanna, tells the story of Happyland – an amusement park turned into a pre-natal laboratory. Johanna’s sister was killed at the facility when the nuclear reactor powering the plant exploded, also killing her sister’s unborn baby. Yet, lately Johanna has been getting letters from her nephew…

At first, she asked for General Caspar’s help, but she hasn’t heard from him in weeks.

Magnus and the Metal Men split up – Iron, Tina and Doc will find Caspar; the others to Happyland.

Approaching Happyland, Gold, Mercury, Tin and Lead are blasted out of the sky by soldiers guarding the Happyland facility!

Meanwhile, Doc, Tina and Iron discover the General’s notes about Babylab, located at Happyland. They are shot at by guards, but safely escape after knocking them out.

The other Metal Men have also survive their crash and head into Happyland.

Throughout the story we see the shadowy Dr. Strangeglove and his super-intelligent infants. Strangeglove confronts Johanna’s nephew, Dennis. Dennis shoots a mental blast at Strangeglove – who reveals the secret to his name – his right hand (shaped like an old typewriter) emits power blasts of its own! Dennis manages to escape.

Dennis is killed by the mental blasts of the other Brain Children and Johanna and the Metal Men are captured by Strangeglove. The evil doctor and his children watch Magnus, Platinum and Iron fly to Happyland to the rescue.

If they can survive the Helix Ray!!! To be continued!

***

The letter column printed only one missive – and asked the readers for more input! The letter and the answer explained the “tongue-in-cheek” approach to the comic announced in the previous issue.

***

Tongue in cheek? It was deadly serious to me at the time! I enjoyed this run of Metal Men, and now I can see the parody that Marty Pasko wrote into the series. The writing is more than silly and less than serious.

Joe Staton’s art is looking less like Simonson’s and more like his own familiar style. And still Wonderful!

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Veteran actor Chris Klein (American Pie, Oz) joins The Flash as season five’s main villain, DC Comics character Cicada. A grizzled, blue-collar everyman whose family has been torn apart by metahumans, Cicada now seeks to exterminate the epidemic — one metahuman at a time. While Cicada in the comics is a cult leader, executive producer Todd Helbing explains that they’re taking some liberties and putting the iconic character through The Flash lens. “He’s not so much a cult leader, but his powers present a challenge for Team Flash that they’ve never had to deal with before,” Helbing says. Other villains coming up this season are “younger” versions of The Rogues, according to Helbing. And the showrunner hopes to do a team-up between King Shark and Gorilla Grodd in the second half of season five … but only if they have enough money in the budget to do all the CGI work. This is something he’s been trying to do for years, but never had enough money.
Before the San Diego Comic Con panel began, a sizzle reel played for Ballroom 20 with new footage from season five, including some answers about Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy). Her superhero nickname in the future (given to her by her father!) is XS, and she’s hiding something from Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) at first. And while Lonsdale isn’t returning to Legends of Tomorrow this season, he is shown in The Flash season 5 trailer, fully suited up as Kid Flash and running alongside The Flash. But the biggest cheer came when Barry got a new suit upgrade: his Flash ring from the comics. Expect to see a new supersuit as well, one that Helbing promises is “the most comic book-influenced” look yet.
But fans should begin bracing themselves now. Helbing warns, “There will be a lot of deaths this year.” Maybe even a main character or two.

***

About the blogger: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

I still have my original copy I bought from the stands. I love this issue so much I can write the synopsis without re-reading the issue:

Sivana again uses his Reincarnation Machine, this time to bring back Teth Adam. Adam says the magic word and becomes Black Adam. Before Billy Batson, Shazam picked Teth Adam to wield the power of Shazam 5,000 year before. But Black Adam used his powers for evil. He was banished but returned to fight the Marvel Family. Tricked into saying “Shazam” Black Adam reverted to his mortal self and crumbled to dust.

Black Adam confronts Cap in Boston. Their battle nearly destroys the USS Constitution and the statue of Paul Revere before Cap loses track of Black Adam.

Billy Batson seeks the advice of Shazam, who recaps Black Adam’s origins and his first meeting with Captain Marvel.

Meanwhile, Sivana convinces Adam to get revenge on the old wizard – hoping that if Black Adam destroys Shazam, he will also destroy himself AND the Big Red Cheese!

Captain Marvel spots Black Adam and gives chase into eternity. Cap pitches Adam in the wrong direction and they end up in America’s past during the Boston Tea Party! The battle resumes and Black Adam collides with Captain Marvel, shouts “Shazam” and moves away at super-speed. The lightning bolt hits Cap instead and turns him back into Billy Batson.

Black Adam ties up Batson and tosses him into Boston Harbor. Billy swims to the surface and is rescued by Paul Revere disguised as a Native (on their way to dump crates of tea).

Black Adam, realizing Sivana’s trickery, abandons his plan to seek revenge against Shazam and returns to 1976 to confront Uncle Dudley/Mentor, who tricked Adam originally to revert to Teth Adam. Magic lightning strikes twice – Dudley again tricks Black Adam into saying the magic word and revert to Teth. Captain Marvel uses an amnesia punch to make Teth forget about his dual identity!

Billy receives a note from Sivana – his next target is Niagara Falls! The final panel says he will be helped by Ibac and Aunt Minerva!

***

This was only the second appearance of Black Adam; the first was Marvel Family #1 (Dec. 1945)

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

The CW superhero series announced at Comic-Con that transgender activist Nicole Maines is joining season four as TV’s first transgender superhero. Maines (Royal Pains, The Trans List) will be playing the series regular role of Nia Nal, aka Dreamer, and she joined the cast onstage halfway through the panel. The newest addition to the CatCo reporting team who worked under Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) in Washington, D.C., Nia is described as a soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others. Her journey over the course of this season means fulfilling her destiny as the superhero Dreamer, as Kara takes her under her wing. Not only is this a huge step for inclusion onscreen, it’s also a win for the trans community as Supergirl is going the extra mile stepping up its representation by casting a trans actress to play the trans role, avoiding the controversy surrounding other projects that cast cis actors as trans characters. “It seems only fitting that we have a trans superhero for trans kids to look up to,” Maines says.

Two other cast additions were announced during the panel. April Parker Jones (Jericho, The Last Ship) is joining the show in the series regular role of Colonel Haley, a hardline career military woman. Colonel Haley lives and dies by the orders of her commanding officers. Dedicated to her country, she always acts in its best interest — even if it’s not her own.

David Ajala (Dr. Who, Nightflyers, The Dark Knight) will also join the cast in season four as the recurring role of Manchester Black, based on the iconic DC Comics character. Described as the type of guy who brings a knife to a gunfight and still walks away the winner, Manchester Black has a dark past but easily deflects the brutality of his mission with his charm and sense of humor. Maines, Jones and Ajala join the previously announced new series regulars Jesse Rath who plays the Legion of Superheroes’ Brainiac-5 and Smallville alum Sam Witwer who will play Agent Liberty.

Fans got their first glimpse of Witwer’s villain as he voiced an ominous voiceover in a sneak peek at season two. Agent Liberty is going to spearhead an anti-alien movement that goes directly against Kara’s (Melissa Benoist) symbol of hope. And was that a new suit for Supergirl? A flash of a woman wearing a light-up “S” on her chest with a futuristic helmet covering her face looked epic and heroic, but since her face was hidden there’s no telling if this was really Kara or someone else, like her evil doppelganger seen in the very last scene of the finale.

***

About the blogger: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!